OPINION/COMMENTARY

Crichton Strikes Devastating Blow to Alarmists

Michael Crichton, author of best-selling books and blockbuster movies such as The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, has published a new best-selling book. That much is hardly noteworthy, given his track record of literary success. What is noteworthy, even earth-shaking, is the book's accurate and tenacious presentation of the science of global warming theory. Crichton has made the often-arcane debate over global warming entertaining and accessible to a huge segment of the American public. The result could be a pivotal moment in the history of environmentalism. Already, Crichton is being compared to Rachel Carson and Upton Sinclair. Millions of people who believe whatever they hear or read from environmental advocacy groups are in the process of changing their minds. The new book, State of Fear (Harper Collins, 2004, $27.95), is the story of a philanthropist, a scientist, a lawyer, and two remarkable women who discover a plot hatched by environmental extremists to trigger environmental catastrophes that they will blame on global warming....